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The team at building toy company Click-A-Brick have praised the efforts of Syria’s so-called toy smuggler, saying he is an inspiration to everyone who wants to make the world a better place and his kindness proves that something as small as a toy can help relieve the most unimaginable pain a child can suffer, if only for little while.As reported by numerous news outlets, a Syrian-born man who now lives in Finland named Rami Adham regularly smuggles toys -- along with other aid supplies -- to children in Syria who have been affected by the constant state of war in that country.
Adham has made nearly 30 trips to Syria from Finland, delivering toys to children, some of whom were born during the war, meaning it’s the only thing they’ve ever known. He flies from Finland to Turkey and, because the official border crossing is closed to the public, he walks up to 16 hours through mountainous terrain carrying around 150 lbs of toys into various spots in the country, including the war-ravaged city of Aleppo where he grew up.
"These little heroes that represent Syria's future are to me extremely valuable to preserve, to give them a moment out of the fear and instability," a BBC news article quotes Adham as saying. "There's no school, nothing for them to do, they are constantly barricaded in a couple of floors or underground. The kids there are not afraid of death anymore. They wish to die instead of being injured - they say when you die you don't have to worry any more."
Co-founders of building toy retailer Click-A-Brick Jason Smith and Georg de Gorostiza say the exploits of Adham are inspirational and put the world, especially the relative comfort of the western world, into sharp perspective.
“We can’t say enough how wonderful Rami is and how important what he’s doing is,” Smith said. “We live in a world where kids have so many toys that parents often struggle with the problem -- and I’m using that term loosely, of course -- of how to get rid of them. And here, you have someone bringing much needed joy into the unimaginably bleak lives of these children with just a single toy. They’re more than just bits of plastic or felt for these kids. They represent something much deeper to them, a tiny glimmer of hope in the darkness of lives ripped apart by war. We hope everyone truly appreciates the good this man is doing. To not recognize that would be a shame.”
Contact Info:
Name: Rob Swystun
Email: Send Email
Organization: Click-A-Brick Toys
Website: http://www.clickabricktoys.net/
Release ID: 136089